Sailing through the Troubled Waters of Foreign Policy Dilemmas, Domestic Political Polarization and Cultural Clashes

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Believing in America on the 4th of July

July 4 is normally a joyous weekend celebrating the birth of our nation. I realize thoughts of barbecues and the beach usually grab more of our attention than thoughts of our political origins, but we have a president who shows no respect for American political institutions, or even what I believe to be the best of our American character, so July 4 takes on a more serious demeanor this year.

Donald Trump distains the press and tends to appeal to our worse instincts, such as the tendency to blame others for our problems, especially others who look different than ourselves or practice a different religion or are of certain nationalities.

The way Trump drums up hysteria is somewhat akin to what happened to the Japanese Americans, over 100,000 of whom were interned as threats after Pearl Harbor despite virtually no evidence. Showing a better side of the American character was the small town of Gallup, N. M, where the town’s sheriff said, “They are citizens here, and we are not going to round them up.”

This linked story in the LA Timesis about Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, who was a Japanese American teenager in Gallup at the time and would later earn a Medal of Honor in the Korean war.

While much of America was falling prey to hysteria, this little town did us proud. There is little that Donald Trump advocates in tweets or through his mouth pieces that make me proud to be an American. He keeps touting “America First” and I hear a little boy crying “me, me, me.”

Trump keeps pretending he is making America great again, while what he is actually doing is placing a pall over our institutions and what’s left of our common sense of reality. When I think of Trump world I envision Gotham City.

The story is fairly long, but you can skim much of it. I like best the early part about Miyamura’s childhood in Gallup.

IN A NUTSHELL…..

This blog will examine whether we Americans are to be masters of our destiny or victims of fate. We live in an age of increasing complexity, misinformation and ever more rapid change. We face grave problems as a nation, yet we are so polarized that we can't stand to speak with those who differ with us about them. Are we just passengers on our own Titanic? Or can we come together to save the ship? That's the central issue this blog will revolve around.

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